Kids are King @ Holiday Inn Resort Penang

Batu Ferringhi is one of Penang’s most popular destinations. Its long stretch of soft, white sandy beach is filled with a host of accommodation and dining options.

When spoilt for choices, how do you decide?

Travelling with kids, the most important factor for us is the convenience and comfort of the boys. Having stayed at numerous Holiday Inn resorts around the globe, we now have them fondly embedded in our hearts.

The kids love the Kids Club and we super appreciate their Kids Eat For Free deal hence without hesitation, we chose to stay at Holiday Inn Resort again during our recent trip up to Penang.

The white sandy beach with crystal clear water at Holiday Inn Resort Penang.

This stretch of beach is simply beautiful that the kids spent most of their time here. Who needs infinity pool when we can have this?

Holiday Inn Resort Penang was recently awarded as Top 10 Best Family Resorts by Holiday With Kids Magazine in 2016, for the forth consecutive year! It is hardly a surprise as we thoroughly enjoyed our stay here.

WHY HOLIDAY INN RESORT PENANG?

What attracted us to stay at Holiday Inn Resort Penang are the facilities and activities available for the kids especially the traditional local crafts and games, as most of us (especially city folks) do not have the opportunity to enjoy this anymore with the children.

All activities arranged by the Kids Club are complimentary for their most important guests – the KIDS.

TRADITIONAL CRAFTS AND GAMES

KITE MAKING AND FLYING

One of the traditional crafts that the kids got to try making is kite.

Ethan gets to learn how to make a kite from scratch. He also got a surprise visit from PANDA in the midst of making his kite. Watch this video below to see how happy the boys were making a kite.

They even get to fly a real kite at the beach. It was their first time flying a kite so make sure you watch the video till the end

GRASSHOPPER FROM COCONUT LEAF

It is amazing that we can weave a grasshopper using coconut leaf. This is a valuable skill to master because we can even sell these grasshoppers in future school bazaars to help raise fund.

Here’s the video of Ethan learning the disappearing art of making Coconut Leaf Grasshopper.

TOP SPINNING

Besides learning to make kites and coconut leaf grasshopper, the boys also had the chance to spin the top. They have never done this before as gasing is not a common thing in the city these days. Even back in our hometowns we don’t play this anymore.

Ethan learning to roll the string around the gasing.

Ayden got to spin the top too with the assistance of the many helpful and friendly staffs here.

Watch this video to see the boys spinning their tops.

MUG PAINTING

Apart from all the traditional crafts and games, the boys also got the opportunity to paint their own mugs. Surprisingly, this is also a complimentary activity. We do not have to pay for the mugs and yes, we get to bring those mugs home to the boys’ delight.

Here’s a video of the boys painting their Pikachu mugs.

Pokémon Go

Talking about Pokemons, let me side-track a little. We were extremely excited to learn that this resort is a PokeGym as well as a Pokestop!

Imagine the boys’ delight when they get to spend all the time they can to battle and conquer the gym here. They even get to catch 3 Pikachus and many other rare pokemons here. This alone makes them not want to leave the resort when I told them it is time to go home

RESORT CENTRE

Back to the resort, they also have activities lined up for older children or in other words – TEENAGERS.

Games and facilities are complimentary. We’ll need to place a deposit of RM50 that will be returned to us once we returned the props in good condition to the Reception team.

We don’t have any teenagers yet but it is time the Mummy and Daddy have some fun. But as always, the boys come first so we let them play a couple of rounds first before we get to have our turn.

It was nice to reminisce our dating days and fall in love all over again over a game of pool but this time, we have a little one peeping by our side

We introduced table tennis to Ethan and he fell in love with it instantly. The next several days were spent polishing up his ping pong skills as the resort holds weekly Ping Pong Competition amongst its guests

KIDS EAT FOR FREE

With every paying parent, two kids get to eat for free. They get to choose a 3-course meal from the Kids’ Menu which was developed in collaboration with Nutrition Australia, a globally recognised leader in nutrition.

The boys are also given an activity sheet to keep them occupied while waiting for their food.

Watch this video to see more on Kids Eat For Free:

Kids Menu

Each child gets a 3-course meal which consists of a fun treat, drink and a main meal from the above menu.

Ayden loves this Orange Twist so much that he refused to try other available juices in the menu.

He also loves the spaghetti a lot and had this on most of the days. The spaghetti originally comes with beef but since my boys don’t eat beef, they omitted the beef

Ethan on the other hand loves the Fish & Chips and asked for this most of the time.

The fried rice aka Eggy Rice is also another favourite of the boys.

INDIAN CUISINE

Holiday Inn Resort Penang also boasts in having 2 Indian resident chefs – Chef Laxman (from Delhi) and Chef Poojari (from Bangalore). They serve one of the best and authentic Northern Indian cuisine on the island that it is a must to have at least one (if not more) Indian meal throughout our stay here.

Let’s take a look at what we had for dinner:

Murgh Tikka (Chicken Kebab)

Gosht Do Piyaza (Mutton Curry)

Jhinga Masala (Prawn Curry)

Paneer Makhanee (Cottage Cheese)

Jeera Rice (Cumin Seed Rice)

Garlic Naan

I was surprised the boys enjoyed the food as much as I do. I was prepared to order something else for them should they not find it suitable but we were all blown away by the food. We really enjoyed the delicate hint of cumin in the rice. I don’t usually eat rice for dinner as I am on a low-carb diet but this is simply amazing that I declare it a cheat- day for the rest of our stay here

The tender chicken tikka infuses lots of flavour. As I bite into a chunk of chicken, the smokey char worked its way though only to be intensified by a new layer of spicing. The chicken chunks are amazingly juicy, moist, and tender and not at all bone-dry to death.

Our favourite that evening has got to be the hot and tangy Jhinga Masala. A delicious and flavoursome curry with a delicate blend of prawns, spices and curry leaves.

Our dinner was truly authentic. I am glad that they serve truly authentic Indian food unlike other eateries serving localized food claiming to be authentic.

I highly recommend you to try their Indian cuisine should you plan a visit to here.

LOK LOK & GRILL BUFFET

Besides their well-known Indian cuisine, the resort also serves Lok Lok & Grill buffet for dinner every Saturday.

We also ate from the ala carte menu for lunch during our stay here because with each meal we ordered, the kids get to eat for free, remember?

We love dining at Terrace Cafe as it features a breathtaking seaview with the sounds of the waves to accompany all our meals.

Families travel differently from singles or couples, do you agree? These days I find myself looking for only kids-friendly hotels/resorts for holidays. Places such as this that provides activities for kids is definitely a plus point.

One night definitely not enough to stay in kid’s friendly hotel like this in Penang because kids will want to stay at the hotel and the parents want to go for food hunting LOL
Thanks for sharing, marked this down!

What a lovely post of this beautiful resort hotel that holds a very special place in my heart. When it was newly opened, I was working with an ad agency that worked closely with their GM and F&B Head to carry out all their jobs to perfection. I will want to visit this place again and stay there. It was like a home to me!

I could see how much upgrading they have done from all your lovely and fun photos. Your boys truly enjoyed themselves with the big smiles. Heeeee!

They have upgraded a lot. I missed the new Kids Club as it was only due to be opened to public in a week’s time. I was a week too early. I saw from their FB, the new Kids Club look so awesome! Menyesal me go so early

Can see from the photos that both your sons enjoyed themselves very much. I stayed in this hotel (tower side) 20 years ago. Ferringhi Tower belongs to the hotel too, right? Good to see that the place is well maintained.

Really a great place for children to enjoy themselves. I love to eat the fish dishes too but at about RM50 each, it is a bit too much for me, gulp.

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About Me

Home is where MY heart is.
I am a mother to two boys; Ethan and Ayden and a wife to Darling William. I'm a stay at home mum who blogs to break the monotony of life and to avoid feeling jaded. Would love to get to know all the Super Mommies and Daddies and Babies or Singles out there with the hope that we can learn more from each other. Most of all, I am a happy person, and I hope YOU are too.